is a Japanese
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
from
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
.
Biography
Nishimura studied composition and
musical theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "Elements of music, rudiments", that are needed to understand ...
on a graduate course at
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...
. He also studied Asian traditional music, religion,
aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
,
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...
and the
heterophonic concepts, all of which have a lasting influence on his music.
He has won several national and international awards, including the 36th
Suntory Music Award The , previously known as the , designed to promote Western music in Japan, has been given by the Suntory Music Foundation since their establishment in 1969. The award is presented annually to individuals or groups for the greatest achievement in ...
(2004) and has been commissioned by many overseas music festivals.
Nishimura was the judge at the 2007
Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to:
*TORU, spacecraft system
*Toru (given name), Japanese male given name
*Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
*Tõru
Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Est ...
composition award.
Works
Operas
*''Asters'' (premiered February 2019)
Other works
*''Mantra of the Light'', for female choir and orchestra
Other activities
*
Tokyo College of Music
is a private music school in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. It was founded as in Kanda, Tokyo, in 1907.
History
The college moved to Toshima in Tokyo in 1924 after the original campus was destroyed by the Great Kantō earthquake.
Some notable gra ...
: professor (composition)
See also
*
Music of Japan
In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. The word for "music" in Japanese language, Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comfort). ...
References
External links
Zen-On Contemporary Composers - Akira Nishimura– Biography, works and discography
Toru Takemitsu Composition Award homepage
1953 births
Concert band composers
International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners
Japanese classical composers
Japanese male classical composers
Japanese opera composers
Living people
Male opera composers
Musicians from Osaka
Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon
Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition
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